Things That Go Bump in the Night
by Settiai
Summary: All sorts of things go bump in the night.


Title: Things That Go Bump In The Night

Author: Settiai

Disclaimer: The characters of _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen_ and the fictional universe in which they exist belong to Allan Moore, Kevin O'Neill, Twentieth Century Fox, et cetera. No copyright infringement is intended.

Rating: PG

Explanation: This is my story for the LoEG/LXG Ficathon on LiveJournal, and it was written for jordannamorgan.

Summary: All sorts of things go bump in the night.

Feedback: Comments and helpful criticisms are always appreciated.

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Rodney Skinner was beginning to seriously question his sanity.

He ran his eyes over the deserted corridor as he listened carefully for any sound. The barest hint of a smile tugged at his mouth when nothing but the distant of humming of machinery reached his ears. His smile quickly faded, however, as the familiar knocking sound suddenly began echoing through the Nautilus's empty hallways once more.

"Where the hell is it coming from?" he muttered as he headed in the direction that the sound was coming from.

The metal floor felt cold under his bare feet, but Skinner barely noticed it. His attention was focused entirely on following the strange sound, and he was barely aware of anything else going on around him. He was abruptly brought back to the present, however, as he turned the corner and collided with Henry Jekyll just as the other man was stepping out of his room.

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Jekyll let out a startled cry as the invisible man collided with him, but he quickly regained his composure when he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground, followed by several colorful comments. "Skinner?"

"What are you doing out here?" Skinner asked sharply as he pulled himself back to his feet.

"I could ask you the same thing," the doctor replied, "especially since you're still supposed to be resting. Those burns won't heal on their own."

_He's already heading down the corridor, Henry,_ Hyde said good-naturedly from somewhere inside the doctor's head. _If you want to do anything but ignore him, then you're going to have to follow him._

Rolling his eyes in exasperation, Jekyll reached back into the room and grabbed one of the coats that were hanging just inside the door. Then, pulling the door shut, he hurried down the corridor. "Skinner," he called out, "wait for a moment."

The sound of soft footsteps that had been echoing in the corridor suddenly stopped, and Jekyll wasn't entirely sure where the other man was until his voice came from directly in front of him. "How about you do us both a favor and not walk into me?"

"If you wouldn't mind putting this on," Jekyll said with a tired smile as he handed his jacket over to the other man, "then we won't have to worry about me walking into you."

Grumbling under his breath as he reached out and took the jacket from Jekyll, Skinner reluctantly pulled it over his arms. "Happy now?" he asked sarcastically.

"Not entirely," the doctor replied amiably. "Why aren't you resting if your burns are hurting you?"

"Because they've almost healed," the other man said sharply before suddenly turning and continuing down the corridor.

_He's bloody insane,_ Hyde cackled. Unfortunately, Jekyll didn't really have any reason to disagree with his words. Shaking his head in exasperation, he continued on after Skinner.

"Where are you going?" he asked in frustration.

"Remember that knocking sound that the others have been complaining about for the last few months?" Skinner asked distractedly. "It started up a little while ago."

Jekyll shook his head in amusement. "You do realize that I have yet to hear this mysterious knocking sound that the others keep…"

He trailed off as the sound started up again, and he could practically hear the amusement in Skinner's voice when he replied. "You were saying?"

Skinner moved a little bit further down the corridor, but he paused in front of a closed door. "The sound's coming from in here," he said suspiciously as he reached down and grabbed the doorknob. The noise stopped abruptly as he swung open the door and quickly stepped into the doorway.

The room was empty except for a single desk sitting in the middle of the room, its top drawer wide open.

_There's nothing here,_ Hyde said with more than a little contempt. _The bloody fool's lost his mind._

"Will you kindly shut the hell up, Edward?" Jekyll muttered under his breath. "If he says there's something here, then there's something here. We both heard the knocking coming from in here, didn't we?"

His jacket suddenly turned toward him as Skinner glanced back at him. "Did you say something?" Skinner asked curiously.

"I said that there's nothing here," Jekyll hurriedly replied. "Now, can we leave?"

Skinner started to retort, but - before he had a chance - the open drawer suddenly slammed shut. He glanced over at the other man, who was now wearing a confused expression on his face. "You were saying?" the invisible man asked with a raised eyebrow.

The two men stared at each other for a moment or two, and then they both looked back at the desk. _Well, maybe he isn't completely insane, _Hyde conceded from inside the doctor's head.

"Are you ready to go back to the infirmary now?" Jekyll asked softly, his eyes not moving from the still-closed drawer.

Before the other man even had a chance to answer, the doctor had already turned and headed back out of the room.

"I'm assuming that bottle of brandy is still hidden in the cabinet?" Skinner inquired hopefully as he caught up with Jekyll's long strides.

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"I didn't see a thing, did you?" Skinner asked with the tiniest of smirks as he graciously accepted the glass of brandy that was being offered to him.

"Me?" Jekyll replied lightly as he poured his own glass. "Heavens no, everyone's merely been hearing things over the last few days."

"I'll make sure to let the others know that the two of us are the only sane ones in the bunch," Skinner said mischievously, and - even though his wink was invisible - the other man could tell it was there from his tone of voice.

Jekyll downed his brandy in one gulp, and his eyes twinkled as he glanced over at the other man. "If you do that," he said impishly, "I'm sure Nemo, Mina, and Sawyer will be glad to kill you quickly and painlessly."

"Good point," Skinner said with a nod. "I'll let you tell them then."

_I think that I might like this bloke after all_, Hyde said suddenly, and Jekyll wasn't entirely sure which man's words scared him the most.


End file.
